Market Turnover at the NSE Precipitates 101.9 Percent

The market turnover at the Nairobi Security Exchange precipitated 101.9 percent to 1.0 billion shillings with indices continuing their uphill. NASI closed at 145.55 (+1.4%), & NSE-20 at 3,410.89 (+1.0%) on Thursday.

Safaricom Ltd held as the top mover, with 46.3 percent of the market activity. The counter inched higher by another 2.4 percent in the session to close at 21.75 shillings (near its 52-Wk high, KES 22.00). Interest continued today on Centum Investment Co Plc. at 3.5 percent of total market, as investors continue taking positions ahead of the release of FY17 results later this month/early next month.

Foreign interest slowed for the second day. Local investors dominated trading at 71%, from previous 53%. Active on the foreign desk was SCOM, at 70 percent of trades on the selling side (net foreign outflow of 188 million shillings). Kenya Power & Lighting Company saw some buying interest by foreigners though of a minuscule 1.1 million shillings.

Following release of FY17 of results by Kenya Airways, an improvement of loss position (by 61.0% y/y), the counter ticked up 3.0 percent to 6.80 shillings. Experts expect a continued speculative activity on the airline, as management promised to continue making major business restructuring announcements, which will aid in the recovery of the bird.  Equity Group Holdings (NSE: EQTY) slipped marginally by 0.7 percent after releasing 1Q17 numbers, which were largely in line with expectations, with a key surprise being a significant uptick in NPLs (78.9% y/y).